Man apprehended after 4-hour Motel 6 standoff

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- A wanted man armed with a shotgun, a hatchet and several knives kept officers at bay for several hours on Monday morning as he was holed up inside a Motel 6.

After a four-hour standoff, the suspect, 57-year-old Terry Glenn Mortensen, was arrested for outstanding parole warrants for a 2003 assault in Clark County, Wash., and a 1977 homicide in Clark County, Nev.

Meanwhile, arson investigators are also looking at a fire that they said Mortensen started inside the motel room during the standoff, according to the Portland Police Bureau. Police said Mortensen could face more charges in connection to the standoff and fire.

The situation began at about 2:45 a.m., when police received a tip that Mortensen was in a room at the motel at 3104 S.E. Powell Blvd. Officers began evacuating the surrounding rooms.

Police said Mortensen refused to come out of the room, triggering a standoff with the Portland police's Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT).

Negotiators spoke with Mortensen by phone for two hours, but he still refused to surrender, police said.

After two hours, SERT officers used an explosive breach to open the motel room door. Officers then saw smoke coming from a closed bathroom door and spotted Mortensen spraying a stream of liquid in the bathroom, police said.

"Mortensen then lit the room on fire and started throwing knives and a hatchet at SERT officers, who were still outside the room at a safe distance," the Portland Police Bureau's news release said.

That's when officers broke the front windows of the room and deployed tear gas; Mortensen began climbing out the room's window, but officers were able to detain him.

Meanwhile, firefighters quickly doused the fire.

He was taken to a Portland hospital for treatment of injuries that don't appear to be life threatening.

Southeast Powell Boulevard was closed to traffic between 33rd and 28th Avenues for four hours.